It was billed as "Pizza with the President" but California State University, Channel Islands President Richard Rush didn't have any pizza during the event Thursday with about 50 CSUCI students.

He was too busy answering their questions. The students wanted to know about hiking in the hills surrounding the campus, a timeline for intercollegiate athletics, and making the campus safer for evening students.

Neal Pabon, a 22-year-old business major from Newbury Park, wanted to know if Rush ever planned to take down the bars on the windows of many campus buildings. The bars, Pabon said later, make the school "look like a prison."

"No," Rush joked in response to the question, drawing laughs from the crowd.

Actually, the bars are remnants of the campus's past life as Camarillo State Hospital. Though some are incorporated into the campus architecture and will stay, most of the bars were meant to keep patients inside the hospital and will come down as the campus is remodeled, Rush told the students.

Pizza with the President was the first event of its kind at the new campus, but school officials hope to make it a regular event held at the start of each semester.

"Students really need the opportunity to meet the president and say what they want to say," Rush said after the 90-minute party. "And I love being with the students."

The pizza party also was a featured event in two campus initiatives sponsored by the school's Division of Student Affairs. Be a Part from the Start launches with the start of school and features weeks of themed activities to get students acquainted with the campus and its services. Welcome Week featured the pizza event, a welcome barbecue on Sunday and more. Other weeks are Health Week, Unity and Diversity Week, Career Week, Recreation Week, Academic Week and Leadership Week.

The events carry through the first seven weeks of school, which is a critical time for students. Research has shown that if students aren't comfortable in their surroundings after the first six weeks, they are more likely to drop out of school, said Gregory Sawyer, vice president of student affairs.

The other initiative is First Year Experience, a yearlong retention effort targeted at freshmen, though activities are open to all students. First Year Experience includes the Be a Part activities but extends to other activities throughout the year.

Activities and workshops are focused on several areas of academic and student affairs, including advising, career, health, financial aid, the library, student development and recreation and leisure.

Participants in the program also will be connected with staff, faculty and peer mentors to help them adjust to campus life and find help and resources quickly.

"We want to provide a number of safety nets for students," Sawyer said. "These things provide a way for faculty, staff and students to interact with each other and be involved (in the campus) all year long."

Thursday, free food and a chance to meet the president were enticement enough for the students who showed up to talk with Rush.

He told them to be careful of rattlesnakes if they wander into the hills; that collegiate athletics should be coming in a few more years; and about the campus police escort service available to students walking back to their cars after evening classes.

Often joking, and lecturing only when the topic turned to binge drinking, Rush answered each question in turn. Students didn't always like what they heard, but they appreciated his candor.

"He had some good answers. I was personally disappointed about football," said Jason Geisler, a 22-year-old business major from Camarillo who believes a college football team could draw a crowd to the campus.

Rush said the university won't have football because it is too expensive and because having the sport makes it more difficult for universities to maintain the gender equity in sports that is required by federal law.

Jorge Perez, an 18-year-old freshman biology major from Oxnard, said he enjoyed meeting Rush and listening to him talk about students' concerns.

"He's pretty cool," Perez said.

"I thought he would be more boring or too busy to talk to us."